


Great Plans in Desperate Times

by Crown_Of_Pencils



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: (Poor Charlie), Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crown_Of_Pencils/pseuds/Crown_Of_Pencils
Summary: Shortly after escaping from the Wall with Ellie, Henry learns that Charles has been kidnapped by the Toppat Clan.  Henry and Ellie team up for the rescue mission, but they’ll need a plan, especially when one of the Toppats snaps.Alternate variation of Completing The Mission’s GSPI+CA pathway.Inspired by a certain YouTube comment on a scene from Completing The Mission.
Relationships: Charles Calvin & Ellie Rose, Charles Calvin & Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin & Henry Stickmin, Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin
Comments: 29
Kudos: 279





	Great Plans in Desperate Times

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The Henry Stickmin series and all related intellectual properties belong to PuffballsUnited. I do not claim ownership of the Henry Stickmin franchise, nor do I seek to profit in any way from this story.
> 
> Special thanks to Lucian Andronic for writing the YouTube comment that inspired this little fanfic!

These were the moments that Henry Stickmin lived for.

The icy Russian winds rushed through Henry’s slender frame as the motorcycle sped onward, the ruby red hair of his fellow escapee lashing out in every direction. The frigid temperatures would surely sour Henry’s mood eventually if he stayed here too long, but right now he couldn’t have cared less. They had left the Wall behind hours ago, but the sweet taste of victory still lingered in Henry’s mind.

Being here with Ellie Rose was the cherry on top of it all. They still barely knew each other, but they had each recognized a kindred spirit in the other from the moment they chose to help each other escape, as their teamwork during said escape had clearly proven. Even now, as Ellie drove expertly through the winding roads and snowy landscapes, Henry almost wished they would get caught by the warden’s goons just so they could escape together all over again.

Almost. Henry could be pretty reckless sometimes, but he wasn’t stupid.

Neither was Ellie, who wasted no time bringing the motorcycle to a smooth stop next to a serviceable-looking bar.

* * *

  
“We can lay low in here for a while.” Ellie said, quickly ‘borrowing’ some discarded old rags for her and Henry to disguise themselves. “But we really need to find a way home.”

“I know a guy who I did some work with a while back.” Henry proposed. “But I need to get to a phone.”

“Leave it to me.” Ellie said, flashing a mischievous smirk that made Henry chuckle silently to himself as she walked through the door and made a beeline for the bartender.

Oh, this was gonna be good…

“Excuse me, sir?” Ellie asked, putting on her cutest innocent face. “Have you seen my grandma anywhere? Her name is Mrs. Fommit, first name Anita. I think she may have gotten lost.”

Within seconds, the bartender was walking around calling Anita Fommit’s name, unaware of everyone else staring wide-eyed at him and trying to muffle their giggles. Meanwhile, Henry snuck into the bartender’s station and reached for the phone, quickly dialing his old friend’s number.

_ Ringback Tone... _

“Not on me, you don’t!” One clearly-drunk patron finally shouted. The entire bar exploded with laughter, and even Henry had to hold in his snickers.

_ Ringback Tone... _

“Anita… Fom…” The bartender started muttering to himself.

_ Ringback Tone…? _

“Why, you little…!”

The bartender, upon realizing the joke, furiously chased Ellie throughout the bar.

**_Ringback Tone…?!_ **

Ellie nimbly evaded the bartender, who ended up crashing into a table and infuriating the drunk biker thugs who had been sitting there. Utter chaos quickly ensued.

_ “Hey there, this is Charles Calvin!” _

“Hey Charlie, it’s Henry!” Henry said quickly, “Listen, I - !”

_ “Yeah, sorry I missed your call, but just leave me a message after the tone, and I’ll get right back to you!” _

Henry frowned. How could Charlie have missed a call? He never even takes off his headset! Henry was just about to hang up and dial again, but then a chair flew at the bartender’s station and smashed the phone. So much for that idea.

“Henry, we gotta go!” Ellie shouted over the commotion.

Now more frustrated than ever, Henry dropped the now-useless receiver and ran for it, weaving through the brawling patrons to reach Ellie and follow her outside.

* * *

  
  


“Did you call him?” Ellie asked, leaning onto the motorcycle to catch her breath.

“I called, but he’s not answering.” Henry frowned again. “Something’s not right.”

The distant roaring of engines interrupted Henry’s train of thought. Countless trucks from the Wall were now approaching the bar, having been alerted to the riot still going on inside.

“Forget it; we gotta get out of here.” Ellie said, climbing back onto the motorcycle.

“Wait!”

Ellie stopped and turned to face Henry, who was looking past the trucks at a floating green dot behind them. A wide smile formed on Henry’s face as he turned back toward Ellie and pointed at the dot, which turned out to be a U.S. military helicopter.

“There! That’s him!” Henry said, instantly lifting Ellie’s spirits.

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Ellie said, starting the motorcycle. “Get on!”

Henry promptly did so, and they drove off once again. This time would be a bit more challenging, since now they would have to drive past the trucks instead of away from them, but Ellie was clearly a pro at this. Henry caught a brief glimpse of the smug look on the warden’s face in the car at the front, just before it turned into pure rage as Henry and Ellie passed him by and swerved their way around the trucks.

On the warden’s orders, the other trucks turned around as quickly as they could, but between the sheer bulk of the trucks and Ellie’s expert driving, there was no way they would catch up in time. Clearly the warden hadn’t thought that one through, but who was Henry to complain?

The helicopter lowered itself, opening its side doors to reveal none other than General Galeforce, who wasted no time lowering a rope ladder for Henry and Ellie. Ellie stopped the motorcycle close by and, with a final wave goodbye to the fuming warden, she and Henry climbed up the ladder, the General helping them both into the helicopter and then closing the doors as they took to the air once more.

* * *

“Heck of a ride, eh Henry?” The General asked.

That was certainly an understatement. Henry and Ellie now sat side by side, each bundled up in warm blankets and sipping on hot cocoa. The action had calmed down pretty quickly once they had made it safely out of Russian airspace, so all Henry and Ellie wanted to do right now was just relax and enjoy the ride.

“And if it isn’t Ellie Rose…” The General said next. “We’ve had our eyes on you too for quite some time, but I gotta say, I didn’t expect for us to meet like this.”

“No worries.” Ellie replied with a soft smile. “Could’ve been worse, am I right?”

“I suppose that’s true.” The General chuckled, but then turned a bit more quiet, his posture becoming slightly more tense than before. He was just about to say something else, but Henry spoke up first.

“Hey Charlie!” Henry called out to the cockpit. “Thanks for the lift!”

“My name’s not Charlie.” The pilot said plainly. “It’s Rupert.”

Henry’s smile dropped. The pilot wasn’t joking; that definitely wasn’t Charlie’s voice. The bad feeling Henry’d had at the bar returned in full force, and Ellie noticed as much and looked at Henry with concern.

“What’s going on? Where’s Charlie?”

“I was just getting to that.” The General said, becoming more solemn now. “A lot’s happened since we last met, Henry.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked, not liking where this was going.

“I sanctioned this pickup because we need your help.” The General said grimly. “Charlie in particular.”

* * *

**  
FLASHBACK: ONE WEEK EARLIER**

The Toppat Clan’s new hideout was impossible to miss, even in the lush Dogobogo Jungle. What were they thinking, building it that tall with a massive dome that looked like it had been stolen right off of the Capitol Building? Actually, knowing the Toppats, it probably  **was** .

Oh well. At least it made Charlie’s job that much easier.

Flying carefully from one hiding place to the next, Charlie took photos of the hideout in as much detail as he could manage. Tracking down the remnants of the Toppat Clan had been no easy task, but it would all be worth it once the General gave the all-clear to take them down. For now, with each photo taken and sent over to the General, Charlie sustained his morale on the occasional daydream of the looks on the Toppats’ faces once Charlie rammed right into that eyesore of a tower up ahead.

Wait a minute…

“What’s your status, Charlie?” Asked the General through Charlie’s headset.

“It looks like I got everything,” Charles said, “but that central tower doesn’t look right. Is that… a rocket?”

The General studied Charlie’s recon photos as they appeared on the computer screen back at home base. Sure enough, what they had initially thought was just a giant tower was indeed a massive rocket, heavily armed from top to bottom, and large enough to accommodate the entire Toppat Clan and all their loot with plenty of room to spare.

“That’s not good. A rocket like that would make the Toppats untouchable once it gets into orbit. We’ll need reinforcements to take it down.” The General said. “Good work for now, Charlie. Return to base.”

“On my way.” Charlie said. He gazed one last time at the rocket, still itching to ram into it and take it out right then and there. However, he had specific orders to return to base, and he would have his chance sooner or later anyway, so he began to turn away from the Toppats’ hideout.

But just then, the helicopter took a sharp turn that nearly threw Charlie out of his seat.

“Ow! What the - ?”

Charlie straightened up and tried to regain his bearings, only to discover that the helicopter had just turned itself back toward the Toppats’ hideout. He instinctively tried to take control of the helicopter, but now the controls wouldn’t budge.

“Uh, General? I think I got a situation here…” Charlie said into his headset. “Hang on; I’m gonna see if I can -  **whoa!** ”

The helicopter propelled itself forward, turning here and there like crazy and tossing Charlie around in every direction imaginable. He briefly caught a glimpse of one of the Toppats aiming a high-tech remote control at his helicopter, just before the helicopter landed none too gently on the ground and then rolled itself into some kind of hangar.

The Toppats closed in on the helicopter, forcing open the doors while Charlie was still disoriented. By the time his head stopped spinning, there were Toppats surrounding him on all sides and at least six rifles pointed directly at him.

“Wait, I know him…” Said Sven Svensson, whose blond hair, blue hat, and Swedish accent were unmistakable. “He’s the pilot who helped that Stickmin guy arrest the airship division! Grab him!”

Charlie put up a good fight as he was dragged out of the helicopter, leaving one Toppat with a black eye and knocking out several of another Toppat’s teeth during the struggle. At one point, Charlie very nearly slipped out of their grasp, only for Sven to whack him over the head with the back of his rifle, leaving Charlie to slump dizzily onto the ground. Suddenly everything started to go black, and the voices around him seemed to grow more and more distant.

“Hmm…”

Sven snatched off Charlie’s headset.

“Charlie?!” The General’s worried voice said on the other end. “Charlie, come in!  **Charlie!** ”

“Take him to the rocket.” Sven said to the other Toppats, then turned his focus back to the headset and put it on.

“Whoever you are, you’d better listen carefully.” Sven hissed into the headset. “Your colleague’s life depends on it.”

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

“Captured?”

Henry stared at the General, who sighed and reached for a file nearby. Ellie stayed silent, giving Henry time to process the news, but now she was listening more intently than ever.

“The Toppats want us to release their previous leader and his Right Hand Man. If they’re not both at the Toppats’ new orbital station before it launches…” The General couldn’t bring himself to finish.

“No…” Henry said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper. The Toppats may be thieves mostly, but they were cutthroats through and through, and Charlie was a good friend. Heck, their friendship was the biggest reason why Henry decided to go straight in the first place. If anything happened to Charlie, Henry didn’t know what he might do.

“The higher-ups refused to release the prisoners, and the rocket is scheduled to launch in just a few hours.” The General said solemnly. “And we can’t attack the Toppats head on without putting Charlie at risk. You’re his last hope, Henry.”

“Then let’s do this.” Henry said, standing up.

“Count me in too.” Ellie stood up as well.

“Huh?” Henry looked over at Ellie, who looked confident as ever.

“You guys helped me escape the Wall; it’s the least I can do.” Ellie said. “Besides, you gotta admit we make a pretty good team, Henry.”

“Thanks, Ellie.” Henry smiled softly, as did the General, who then handed the file he was holding to Henry.

“Charlie was doing recon in the Dogobogo Jungle. These are the last photos he took before the Toppats got him.” The General explained, letting Henry and Ellie browse through the photos. “We’ll be there in a few hours, so rest up.”

* * *

**  
TWO HOURS BEFORE LAUNCH**

Henry and Ellie parachuted a safe distance away from the Toppat base itself, but not so far away that they couldn’t reach it on foot. Landing on a tree branch, the pair used the thick foliage as camouflage while Ellie took out a set of binoculars to get a closer look.

“This is the place, alright.” Ellie said into her earpiece. “I can see the rocket from here.”

_ “Good. Now listen up, both of you.” _ The General said.  _ “Our intel says Charlie is being held somewhere onboard the rocket itself. Reinforcements will be there in one hour to stop the rocket from launching, but once they arrive, there’ll be no way to guarantee either your safety or Charlie’s. Your job is to get in, get Charlie, and get out. We’ll take care of the rest.” _

“We’re on it. Henry out.”

And with that, Henry and Ellie went to work. Ellie turned her binoculars down toward the entrance gate, where a single guard stood by the gate with a rifle in hand.

“First we need to take care of that guard.” Ellie said. “Wait here; I got an idea.”

She gave Henry the binoculars and climbed down from the tree, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. Through the binoculars, Henry watched as Ellie sauntered toward the guard and gave him a flirtatious smile. Henry grabbed a sturdy vine and watched the pair intently, preparing himself for whatever he needed to do, but at the same time trying not to feel  **too** jealous.

“Hey.” Ellie said casually. “Are you the famous Toppat Clan I’ve heard so much about?”

“Depends on who’s asking.” The guard said, raising an eyebrow at Ellie.

“Nobody special.” Ellie replied, pouting slightly. “Just a recent escapee from the Wall with nowhere else to go.”

“You busted out of the Wall?” The guard’s eyes widened. “That place is top-notch, man!”

“Well breaking out wasn’t easy, let me tell you.” Ellie laughed, moving in closer to the guard. “But if you could just put in a good word for me with the Toppats, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“I think that can be arranged.” The guard smirked. He turned toward a phone inside of his post, and in that split-second, Ellie looked up at Henry and nodded.

The guard never knew what hit him. Henry let out his loudest Tarzan yell as he swung down on a vine toward the guard. The guard immediately pointed his rifle at Henry, but Ellie grabbed the rifle and pulled it away from Henry, who jumped off the vine and tackled the guard, punching him in the face for good measure. The guard was knocked out instantly, and Ellie got a brand new gun out of the deal.

“Now that was pretty cool.” Ellie smirked at Henry.

The loudspeakers suddenly squealed, followed by Sven Svensson’s voice echoing throughout the entire base.

_ “The rocket will be launching very soon. Please get onboard immediately. I will not hesitate to leave you behind.” _

“Let’s go.” Henry said, and he and Ellie ran out of the guard post and entered the base proper.

  
  


The Toppats were lining up in droves to board the rocket, leaving the main entrance ramp completely overrun and the entrance itself heavily guarded. Henry and Ellie could try to sneak in with the rest of the line, but at the current rate, they’d be lucky to make it halfway up by the time the rocket launched.

They would have to find a more creative solution to get inside the rocket in time. Fortunately, Henry was no stranger to creative solutions. In fact, one such solution was already coming to mind…

With all of the Toppats already hurrying to board the rocket, only a bare minimum of security was left to guard the base’s aircraft hangar. That was too convenient for Henry to pass up, so he motioned for Ellie to follow him there. This would be risky, no doubt about it, but this was their only chance to break into the rocket in time.

Ellie, for her part, realized that Henry must’ve had a plan and followed along. A short dance party and a few knocked-out guards later, the pair made it to the hangar, only to be more than a little disappointed by what they encountered inside.

“So much for that idea.” Ellie said.

All of the fully functional aircraft had already been loaded into the rocket, leaving only a bunch of broken-down rust buckets not fit for anywhere other than a junkyard. In retrospect, a frustrated Henry realized he should have expected that. The Toppats had made sure to load  **everything** into their new rocket base; of course that would include all of their aircraft.

Without much choice in the matter, Henry and Ellie turned to leave the hangar, but then something else caught Ellie’s eye.

“Wait!” Ellie said, running up to a U.S. military helicopter in the back. “How about this one?”

Henry followed behind Ellie, but couldn’t help feeling slightly sentimental at the sight of the helicopter she was pointing at.

“This must be Charlie’s copter.” Henry said softly. Clearly the Toppats had left it in the hangar to rot, but a closer examination gave Henry new hope.

“The landing gear took some damage, but all in all she’s still in good shape.” Henry said, eagerly climbing aboard. “Come on!”

* * *

_ LAUNCH TOWER: Nothing. _

_ HELIPAD: Nothing. _

_ ROADWAY: Nothing. _

_ ENTRANCE GATE: Kayn sleeping on the job again, but other than that, nothing. _

Sven Svensson fumed silently as he set aside the security monitor. The rocket was due to launch in less than two hours, and there was still no sign of either Copperbottom or the Right Hand Man. There weren’t even any government vehicles anywhere nearby to indicate that they were being brought over as demanded. Unable to bear the wait any longer, Sven marched out of the cockpit and headed downstairs, picking up a remote control and the pilot’s headset along the way.

Sven never wanted to be the leader. He hated all the pressure, all the responsibility, that came with having that much power. So when he’d caught that stupid pilot snooping around the Clan’s jungle base, all he could think of was a chance to get the old leaders back and not have to deal with any of this anymore. But no, things couldn’t just be simple for him for once in his life, could they? The government just had to ignore his demands and leave him stuck as the leader!

Well, if that’s how they were going to be, then he may as well get at least  **some** satisfaction out of this whole mess. At least that was what he told himself as he arrived at the pilot’s cell and opened the door.

“Svensson! We really gotta stop meeting like this.”

There was Charlie, exactly how Sven had left him: suspended off of the floor with magnetic shackles clamped tightly around each of his hands. The Toppats had tended to Charlie’s injuries from the helicopter crash and from Sven’s many interrogations over the course of the last week, but Charlie was still worse for wear, even if he did make an admirable effort not to show it.

“Shut up, you!” Sven snapped. “Your fate is sealed, do you hear me? Unless your government gives us our old leaders back, you’re finished!”

“Jeez, you don’t have to shout.” Charlie quipped. “What’s with the attitude anyway? Is your hat on too tight?”

Charlie’s cheerful demeanor hadn’t changed much after a week in captivity, but underneath the bright smiles and witty banter, there was a hint of defiance in his eyes that had only grown with time. Sven hated that stupid smirk almost as much as he hated that defiance, but at this rate, he wouldn’t have to put up with it for much longer.

“Let’s see just how witty you are when I’m through with you!” Sven hissed, activating the monitor and opening a menu called ‘TORTURE METHODS’.

“Not this again.” Charlie’s smirk dropped, the defiance in his glare growing even stronger. “For the last time, Sven, I’m not telling you where the Toppats from the airship raid are!”

“I suspected as much.” Sven seethed. “But you know what? I don’t care anymore! I was going easy on you until now because you were more useful to us in good health. But since your government obviously doesn’t care enough about you to pay your ransom, I may as well have some fun with you before I kill you. And ohh, what fun we’ll have!”

Sven turned on the intercom, and received an answer in short order.

“You called, sir?” Said the low-level goon on the other end.

“Activate the webcam in the pilot’s cell, and connect it to every government line within range!” Sven ordered. “I’m going to give those fools a show they’ll never forget…”

With that settled, Sven put Charlie’s headset back on his head and activated the microphone.

“Make sure you scream nice and loud for your friends.” Sven cackled. “I don’t want them to miss a thing.”

* * *

  
Henry’s assessment of Charlie’s abandoned helicopter had proven correct. The helicopter wobbled slightly as it got off the ground, but Henry was able to keep it steady and start taking to the air. This was the biggest gamble of this whole mission, but it just might work. It  **had** to work.

_ “This message goes out to all the government idiots who seem to enjoy making my life miserable!” _

“Henry, look!” Ellie said, pointing to a screen on the control panel that had just flickered to life. “Is that Charlie?”

Henry looked down at the screen, which showed a blond Toppat with a blue hat walking up to Charlie, who was suspended in midair with his hands shackled above his head. Charlie looked like he’d seen better days as it was, but now his captor was clearly in a bad mood.

“That’s him, alright.” Henry said uneasily, not liking the looks of this one bit.

_ “I offered you lazy bums one simple trade: your friend for my life back. Was that really too much to ask? Was it?!” _

_ “Yes.” _ Charlie said flatly, provoking a snicker from Henry, until…

_ “I said  _ **_shut up_ ** _!” _

The blond Toppat held up a remote control and pressed one of its buttons. An electric current surged through the metal clamps holding Charlie, who grunted in pain as the electricity passed through his entire body for at least 10 seconds before stopping to let him catch his breath.

_ “As I was saying,” _ The blond Toppat continued, turning a dial on the remote,  _ “since you idiots obviously won’t give me back my life, I’m not going to give you back your friend! This is the last time you’ll ever see him! Ever! So  _ **_HAH!_ ** _ ” _

He pressed the same button again, and this time the electric shock was much stronger, Charlie’s defiant grunts slowly turning into screams with each jolt. Ellie grimaced sympathetically and averted her eyes, while Henry could already feel his blood boiling.

“Enough waiting around.” Henry said, becoming dead serious. “Let’s finish this.”

“Let’s.” Ellie nodded firmly. While Henry started to steer the helicopter forward, Ellie dared another glance back down at the video footage, and her eyes grew wide.

“Check this out.” Ellie said, forcing herself to tune out the electric zapping noises, Charlie’s screams, and the blond Toppat’s insane rambling. “There’s a window right behind Charlie. Wherever that window is facing, that’s where we’ll find him!”

“Good thinking!” Henry said, now more glad than ever to have Ellie on his side. He started to fly the helicopter toward the rocket, while Ellie gave him directions based on the scenery behind Charlie compared to the surrounding landscape. It was a crude process, but soon enough, Ellie was sure she could see a small green dot flying just underneath Charlie’s feet.

Henry lined up the helicopter just right, and then dialed a certain number in the helicopter’s communication system.

“Ba-a-a-a.”

“What was that?” Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow at Henry.

“Long story; I’ll explain later.” Henry said, already bracing himself.

* * *

Charlie hung limply in his bonds, barely even conscious. He’d already lost count of how many shocks he’d gotten, and now exhaustion was starting to set in. Bit by bit, Sven Svensson was unraveling, and now it was impossible to take anything the man said seriously. At this rate, Charlie honestly didn’t see any real chance of him getting out of this situation alive.

And actually, he was okay with that. At least he would get to rest in peace, knowing that two dangerous criminals were not set free because of him. Sven, on the other hand, would never find peace. In spite of everything, Charlie couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy. Sven was stuck in a role that he didn’t even want, and all of its burdens would stay with him in one way or another for the rest of his life. No amount of torture inflicted on Charlie would change that, and neither would Charlie’s death.

Satisfied with that, Charlie took a deep breath and let himself relax, his eyelids slowly drooping shut.

_ “Ba-a-a-a.” _

Charlie’s eyes snapped open. Was he going crazy, or did he just hear…?

No, wait… he recognized that sound. It sounded like a sheep, but the voice was distinctly human, and Charlie was sure he knew that voice. In fact, Charlie was sure he’d heard that exact sound before, during the Toppat airship mission, when…

“Henry?” Charlie said, his voice so hoarse that it was barely louder than a whisper.

“Don’t you pass out on me now!” Sven roared, giving Charlie a quick jolt to wake him completely. “I’m not finished with you yet!”

“Oh yeah?” Charlie shot back, straightening up and looking Sven in the eyes once more. “Well just you wait until my friend gets here!”

“Yeah, sure!” Sven laughed out loud, rolling his eyes.

**_KROOSH!!_ **

A military helicopter plowed headfirst through the side of the rocket, narrowly missing Charlie’s cell. Alarms blared throughout the entire rocket as the helicopter’s occupants leaped out and forced open the cell door, standing face to face with Sven, who immediately took out his gun.

“What?! Not you again!”

Sven took aim at Henry, but Charlie lifted up his legs and kicked Sven from behind, knocking him to the ground. While Henry and Sven wrestled for control of the gun, Ellie shot down the machine suspending Charlie’s shackles in midair, releasing Charlie and letting him drop to the floor.

With Charlie now free and Sven outnumbered 3 to 1, the fight didn’t last much longer after that. Sven had managed to hold onto his gun and was just about to shoot Henry, but Charlie grabbed Sven’s gun hand and pulled it away from Henry, allowing Ellie to whack Sven on the head with the back of her rifle.

Henry grabbed Sven‘s gun as the latter lay motionless on the floor, and then Henry and Ellie moved to either side of Charlie and helped him to his feet.

“Man, am I glad to see you again, Henry.” Charlie said. “And who’s your friend?”

“I’m Ellie.” Ellie replied. “Henry and I just busted out of the Wall together, and now here we are.”

“Awesome!” Charlie said, already returning to his usual self. “Any friend of Henry’s is a friend of mine.”

In spite of the circumstances, Henry couldn’t help but smile. Charlie was an upstanding soldier through and through, so Henry was genuinely worried that he and the ex-con Ellie might not get along, but so far they were all getting along just fine…

But then an ominous flash of red lights interrupted the moment, along with even more blaring alarms.

_ “Initiating self-destruct protocol in 5 minutes.” _ Said the loudspeakers overhead.  _ “Please evacuate the rocket immediately.” _

Sven chuckled, then started to laugh hysterically at the trio, his thumb pressing down on a large red button on his remote.

“If this rocket self-destructs, it’ll wipe out the whole base!” Henry realized. “And look!”

Henry pointed out the window at the ground below. After the first set of alarms had gone off following the helicopter stunt, the Toppats had all panicked and started evacuating from the rocket, only to run headfirst into the military’s reinforcements closing in from all sides. With the entire base surrounded and the rocket now in no condition to launch, the Toppats had lost this battle before it even started. But now, with the rocket about to self-destruct, both sides were equally in danger, and there was no chance of getting everyone safely out of range in just five minutes.

“Are the systems on the copter still working?” Charles piped up, prompting Henry and Ellie to help him walk to the crashed helicopter. Charlie’s pace was slower than usual and his legs wobbled under his weight, but once he was seated in the cockpit, he worked quickly through the onboard computer systems like the pro that he was.

_ “Initiating self-destruct protocol in 4 minutes.” _

“Okay, I can work with this.” Charlie mused, already typing in several commands. “I’m hacking into the rocket’s systems now.”

“Okay. Ellie and I will cover you.” Henry said, the two of them standing guard outside the helicopter itself.

_ “Initiating self-destruct protocol in 3 minutes.” _

“Don’t you idiots get it?” Sven laughed. “You’re all dead! And to think, all this could have been avoided if you had just listened to me!”

“I got this.” Henry said to Ellie, right before he lunged at Sven. Ellie very nearly stepped in to help Henry, but stopped herself just in time. She couldn’t leave Charlie without cover, so for now she would have to just trust that Henry knew what he was doing.

_ “Initiating self-destruct protocol in 2 minutes.” _

Both Henry and Sven were eventually knocked to the ground and wrestled yet again, Henry grabbing onto the hand in which Sven held the remote. Sven tried to grab the gun again, but Henry kneed him in the gut before he could grip it tightly enough to take it from him.

_ “Initiating self-destruct protocol in 1 minute.” _

“I’m in!” Charlie shouted.

Sven looked up in shock, forgetting all about Henry as he threw him aside and tried to run toward the cockpit. Ellie immediately took aim and shot Sven in the leg, slowing him down by at least a few seconds.

Those seconds were all Charlie needed.

_ “Self-destruct protocol aborted.” _

The alarms all stopped, and Henry thought he could hear cheering outside. The government would owe him and Ellie big time after this.

“Oh no you don’t!” Sven shouted. “You won’t stop me that easily!”

He reached for the remote and pressed the red button once again, but this time, nothing happened. Looking down, Sven gasped in horror.

The remote’s batteries were missing!

A sharp whistle from Henry caught everyone’s attention. He was now standing with a triumphant smirk on his face, holding up the batteries for all of three seconds before tossing them through a narrow gap between the helicopter and the rocket wall.

Sven watched wide-eyed as the batteries fell out of sight, but this time he remained silent, his utter defeat plain to see on his face. Ellie kept her rifle aimed at Sven for good measure until a handful of government soldiers arrived to seal the deal, arresting Sven and leading him down the hallway.

Henry and Ellie helped Charlie out of the crashed helicopter, and the three of them exited the rocket together, greeted by salutes and cheers from the government personnel below.

**MISSION**

**COMPLETE**

* * *

  
As the last of the Toppats were rounded up, Henry, Ellie, and Charlie were approached by Rupert, who turned to lead them to an air ambulance. On the way there, Charlie couldn’t help but take one last look up at the rocket, more specifically at the helicopter still protruding from its side.

“That was the greatest plan I’ve seen in a long time. Whose idea was that?”

“Henry’s.” Ellie said immediately. “I never would’ve thought of that, but hey, it worked.”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit.” Henry told Charlie. “I came up with the copter thing, but it was Ellie’s idea to use the window to find you. And none of that would’ve even mattered if you hadn’t stopped the rocket from blowing up.”

“Ah, here they are!”

General Galeforce stood next to the air ambulance, and Henry honestly could not recall ever seeing him so happy.

“Thanks for the save back there, Charlie.” The General began. “It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back, General.” Charlie said warmly, letting himself relax as the medics ushered him into the air ambulance for treatment, Henry and Ellie both still waiting close behind.

“Henry, Ellie…” The General said next. “Well, what more can I say? You stopped the rocket from launching, you rescued Charlie… we owe you both big-time for this.”

“Well…” Ellie started to say, but then hesitated to finish. “Now that you mention it, we do still have a little bit of a criminal history problem…”

“Not anymore.” The General said proudly. “Both your pardons are being signed and sealed as we speak. And I just got off the phone with the Wall; if they want either of you, they’ll have to go through us.”

Henry and Ellie both beamed at the news. Just like that, both their slates were officially clean.

“Y’know, we could use more new recruits with skills like yours.” The General continued. “And you both worked really well together with Charlie back there. The three of you make a pretty good team.” He started turning to leave. “Just something to think about.”

Henry and Ellie looked at each other, matching grins forming on each of their faces as they exchanged glances with Charlie, who looked absolutely thrilled.

**RANK**

**Army Buddies**

**Author's Note:**

> “I can imagine a alternate universe where the toppat clan captures Charles  
> and you do this option but instead of a fail it’s not”
> 
> — Lucian Andronic, in a YouTube comment referring to the “Helicopter” option in the Toppat King pathway of Completing The Mission


End file.
